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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsForum post of the day: Epic choices
by Amanda Dean 
Jul 25th 2008 at 10:00AM
Even without a release date, we can all feel Wrath looming. Whether it's pouring over the new specs as soon as they become available, saving materials for future Death Knights, or leveling up an alt to send as a main character to Northrend, we're all prepping to take our adventures into Northrend. Many wonder how far their gear will carry them toward level 80.
Many players were frustrated that their hard-earned gear was quickly reduced to obsolescence in Burning Crusade, and fear that that will happen again. Manbearppig of Frostwolf wants to know if gearing up a character now will be a good way to spend time. Some point out that better gear earned now will translate into easier leveling in the future. In a similar thread, MVP Faizaniel of Dragonblight stated:
My scrubby non-purple gear is getting replaced pretty fast; high-end gear, not so much. While it's unlikely that you're keeping much from level 70 at level 80, it's really up to you whether the benefits of getting to use the nice gear now, and having it help you level more quickly once Wrath comes out, are worth earning the gear now.
Some people seem to be forgetting that WoW isn't strictly about gear, or even about the future. It's about having fun and enjoying the game now. The expansion has been in the works for quite some time, but it seems kind of strange to put things on hold in anticipation of the release. For all we knew when the Burning Crusade was released it could have been the end of World of Warcraft with nothing new in the future. The endgame would have truly been the endgame.
My plan between now and Wrath is to play Arenas with just my Shaman whenever possible and to work on my full set of classes. I have a Priest, Hunter, Paladin, and Druid at max level now. My Warrior is 43, Warlock 40, and Mage is 38, the Rogue is my last priority. I rather enjoy the leveling experience, and I think it will be great to have more choices when we see where the talents fall. With the exception of my Arena main, I'm not terribly concerned about gearing up, but it doesn't really bother me that her stuff will soon be replaced. I'm just playing the game.
What are you doing to gear up for the expansion?
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Alts, Forums, Forum Post of the Day
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Smurk Jul 25th 2008 11:48AM
I'll be levelling in PVP gear, mostly S2, so we'll see how long that lasts. I doubt anything before the mid-70s will offer better overall stats than my high stamina, gems, 2xMongoose, etc. I'm still playing battlegrounds and doing some dailies, also mining since Adamantite Ore goes for 35G per stack these days. If I get really bored I may level fishing.
My current pet project is a level 19 priest -- not twinked, but definitely "enhanced" with some enchants etc. -- and I'm gonna try to get to Exalted in WSG. That may be real dumb but I'm ~11% of the way there so far (and that's more rep than my main has!).
Milktub Jul 25th 2008 11:49AM
I'm not overly concerned about the reset.
But I've let my guild know that my tank is as well geared as he'll get with them, and that all I can get from any more raids with them would be off-spec stuff. I'm hoping to spend more time with my dps alts between now and Wrath.
Teresa Jul 25th 2008 11:51AM
Going from BC->WoLK fear-wise isn't a huge jump. I'm in 3pc T6, T6 equivs, a few T5 equivs, and my kara back piece. I fully expect my back piece to be the first thing I replace in WoLK. However, that won't be for quite a while.
In testing, T6 is good til ~lvl 77, and if you're even in kara purps, you definitely won't be replacing your gear with greens immediately unless you want more spirit & less everything else. Oh, except the one +haste trinket from a quest reward is decent.. T5 looks to be good til ~75, T4 could prolly get away with lvl ~72/73.
To be honest, all the gear I've seen during testing of WoLK, is 'meh'.
brent Jul 25th 2008 12:22PM
% based t6 set bonuses should rock if you can realistically keep them at 80 too.
5% frostbolt/fireball 6% shadowbolt bonus at level 80 will be sweet to try at least.
Groth Jul 25th 2008 12:24PM
As a bear tank, as yet, i've not really seen any upgrades to my current kit. There are going to be a couple of things i'd like in my cat kit, and some improvements for my caster kit (combining balance and resto kit will be great for my bags), but as yet there doesnt seem to be ANY extra armor.
With Blizzard making us share kit with rogues (who havent had much love either), we come out poorer. Haste is useless to us in cat form, and there's no extra armor for bears. It might have been ok with the Reinforced hide talent, but since that got removed, bears are gonna be tanking in their BT/MH kit till 80 at this rate.
And don't get me started about the lack of Dire cat...
Chris Jul 25th 2008 12:48PM
I agree - I'm getting gear now to try to experience T5 content before it's fully ignored once WotlK comes out. I want to get as close to "finishing" BC!
I must admit - it's confusing that people were angry about the gear reset when BC came out. It proves that people aren't getting gear to improve gameplay/experience, rather, they want to be ahead of other players. Greens in BC that made your epic gear obsolete? GOOD! You're getting better gear! So what if everyone else has it.
vlad Jul 25th 2008 1:59PM
i embraced it during BC. my whole guild was running around leveling in t3 slow as crap while i was running around like in a clown suit of greens and blues that pwned all my epics and set bunuses. needless to say i leveled 3 60's to 70 in about the same time it took those stubborn guildies to get 2 60's leveled.
buh bye BC epics!! BRING ON THE LK GREENZ!!! :)
jurandr Jul 25th 2008 1:29PM
My guild has been trying to do kara lately, but with wotlk looming over us we (as a guild) decided it's kinda pointless to put all this time into raiding. We now do regular partial-premades, instance runs, and old-world raids. We completed AQ40 and some of AQ20 last night and are headed to ZG this saturday :)
holyground Jul 25th 2008 1:31PM
I experienced the gear reset for BC. I had a full t1 lock and was working on t2 for my priest. I remember sharding my Staff of the Ruins for the Blood Ring staff (ok, I didn't shard it until Kara, but I never used it after Nagrand)...
It's only sad for a minute, guys. until you realized the reason you're replacing the gear is because what you're getting is better. Until acheivements come out, there's no scorecard in wow raiding (there may be one in arenas but I refuse to use them).
If you raided for gear, you're stoked cause you have a head start in wotlk to get the next level of gear.
If you raided for the experience, then you're stoked because a whole new level is coming.
I don't understand being upset about gear resets, personally. The only way I can see it being upsetting is that it's leveling the playing field, i.e. those who are in the more difficult raids won't have as much of a gap as they do now between them and new 70s when WotLK comes out.
Rest assured, this parity will disolve within 2 months of WotLk's release.
Bangarang Jul 25th 2008 1:34PM
looking forward to the reset myself. badge/ZA gear will last till the mid 70s, so most people will be alot happier this time around.
MechChef Jul 25th 2008 1:47PM
If cupofjoe isn't wrong about the initial quest-greens being ilvl 138, that puts them slightly ahead of T5. So, this leads me to believe that if you're not raiding BT or the Sunwell, might as well start leveling an alt and saving mats.
BitterCupOJoe Jul 25th 2008 3:33PM
The ilvls don't match up directly on gear. An ilvl x green is vastly inferior to an ilvl x purple. You can really only use ilvls as a comparison within the same quality, ie. comparing green to green or purple to purple.
For a more concrete example, I've got a Breastplate of the Lightbinder, an ilvl 115 purple healadin chest piece. http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=28662 The first blue upgrade to it (at least that which is listed in wowhead) is Chestplate of Northern Lights, an ilvl 155 blue item, which requires a minimum of level 70; probably, that's going to drop in a 72-73 instance or come from a level 72-73 group quest. The first green upgrade in the database, in case I never run the instance or the item doesn't drop, is Norrington's Burnished Breastplate, an ilvl 162 item (with no int, so it's hard to say that it's even an exact upgrade, and it may be slightly inferior), which comes from a level 77 quest.
Mind you, the purple 115 ilvl item is a drop from a (relatively) easy boss in Kara; if I saved up the 100 badges (which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't that much if you're already running kara), I can grab the Ecclesiastical Cuirass http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=34921, which will may take me into Naxx, or at least up into the 78-79 dungeons.
To sum up, grabbing gear now is still worthwhile. Run Kara and buy badge items for now, if nothing else. If you can't do that, then focus on getting alts leveled; that seems to be about the place where the divide happens.
Shigsy Jul 25th 2008 1:48PM
I think alot of people are missing the point. Do you really want your gear to last until 75-77? Surely alot of the fun of questing and levelling up is the new gear you get as you go? I cant imagine levelling up from 70-75 with having to go 'meh' at every green/blue quest reward :S
Teresa Jul 25th 2008 2:13PM
This is why I'm lvl'ing my alt to 70. >.>
Tabi Jul 25th 2008 2:08PM
I don't really care about gear anymore. As long as it's good enough to help me level, and looks nice, that's enough for me.
I have been doing a lot of BGs lately though -- I figure the honor and tokens I earn now should come in handy after the expansion (and presumably) level 80 honor gear comes out.
BitterCupOJoe Jul 25th 2008 3:35PM
I will say, I do wish they'd include something like EQ2 where you could have your real armor in one slot, and an optional "show" armor in another slot; you still have to earn the show armor, but you can choose to have that displayed instead of your clownsuit. I'm a little late to the party, and I've finally got my paladin to the point where his gear matches, and it would be nice if I could keep that while leveling to the point where I'm getting my T7.
Inaara Jul 25th 2008 4:39PM
Personally I'm not worried at all. The only reason I get better gear is so that I can see more content. I'm currently in a raiding guild that is working on Hyjal and Black Temple (4/5 5/9 atm) and that fully intends to keep going in the hopes of clearing Sunwell before Wrath comes out. None of us are all "oh we might as well quit now, our gear will be obsolete in a few months. I raid because I enjoy the cameraderie and seeing new zones and bosses, not because it lets me stroke my ego a little more, and I am thankful to be in a guild that has the same attitude. I'm really looking forward to Wrath, because there will be so much new stuff to see and do, and I will feel happy about all that I got to see and do in BC, and continue on with the same group of awesome people to do the same in Wrath.
Sl0th Jul 25th 2008 4:48PM
I'm having far more fun leveling up a druid than I have had in quite a while in WoW. Raiding was turning into a chore... By the end of my raiding career, I was raiding more out of an obligation to my guild mates than because I was enjoying it. So when the guild I was member of for eight months imploded, I took that moment to retire from raiding. Since then, I've played WoW less, but when I have, I've been leveling characters again. And its been far, far more fun than I'd been having forcing myself to show up five nights a week to slay the same virtual dragons repeatedly.
My main... Such as he is any more, will certainly last a lot longer in Northrend than my mage or nascent druid without swapping gear, but I have no problem replacing any of their gear eventually. I'm proud of how well geared my hunter became in months and months of raiding... And I have less of a problem than many people I know putting some of that gear in the bank when the time comes that quest greens (or more likely blues) start to out-class them.
Anyway, once my druid is done leveling, I think I might level something else prior to the expansion. Maybe on a new realm and on a different side of the game. I'd be an interesting challenge to level a new alt who I can't funnel money to support. I've begun to take the fact I've got 2, almost 3 characters who can blow through hundreds of gold worth of dailies a piece if I so desire.
Slust Jul 25th 2008 5:16PM
"Many players were frustrated that their hard-earned gear..."
I lol'd
Jeff Jul 28th 2008 10:34AM
I am actually kind of saddened by the way they are handling gear in Wrath. It seems that depending on your gear lvl, whether it be Kara/T5.5 badge/T6 it won't be replaced until level 75, 77, 80 respectively and it is just kinda sad. I know I always enjoyed looking at Thottbot/Wowhead for quest/instance drops that were an upgrade to my current gear. That will no longer be the case in Wrath, and questing will only be about gaining experience and not gear in most cases, which makes it much more of a grind for me. I know I dinged lvl 65 by killing a mob in Nagrand about 15 feet from the Ring of Blood questgiver and I was in LFG looking for a group 2 seconds later so I could get a sweet weapon upgrade. That won't happen in Wrath. It will be a matter of simply grinding away to get to 80 if you have nice gear now. Don't get me wrong I love questing and leveling, but running a long, complex quest chain was always more fun if there was a nice upgrade waiting for me at the end. I mean will anyone in T5+ even run a dungeon that is lvl 70-78. They might for fun, but most people will probably just grind to 80 as quickly as possible because they don't need instance drops, and they won't even see the low level dungeons until they run them on heroic.
I know this won't happen now because things are too far along in development but I would have rather seen a system where they rewarded you for your current progression but had a similar gear reset like in TBC. For example if you had completed Kara you leveled from 70-80 with a Kara Aura that increased all your stats by 1% including AP and Spellpower, etc. If you were one of the lucky few to finish Sunwell you would get a Sunwell Aura that increased all stats by 15% or something like that. Of course there would be people in the middle of the road with badge gear, or some TK/SSC/MH/BT gear and they could be given partial credit based on their level of progression 8.5%, 10.5% etc. They could even do it based on your current item level so it could include hard earned epic craftables and just call it TBC Aura or whatever. This Aura would dissapear at lvl 80 and everyone would be on the same playing field. This would give players who worked hard and progressed through difficult raids in TBC a nice leg up in leveling (which I think they deserve) but everyone could be excited about getting a new lvl 72 blue quest reward or instance drop that had better stats than their previous gear. Even though the Sunwell raider and the guy who just dinged 70 two days before Wrath came out would have the same lvl 72 blue, the hardcore raider would have a version that is 15% better. This seems like a nice way to reward the players who put alot of work into TBC but still give everyone the excitement of new gear with the expansion.
Well it's too late for something like this to happen, but I can still dream about a better system right ;)